Lang Lang is coming to town for the start of the 2012-2013 San Diego Symphony Season. We may wonder who is this Lang Lang. Lang Lang is a pianist. Some have called him the most gifted keyboardist in his generation. …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/28/32418/ 9-28-68: Big Brother and the Holding Company were scheduled to play a sold-out show at downtown's Community Concourse. The afternoon before the show, Janis Joplin announced to the press her intention to quit the band. "I told you, you …

Put 'em on your radar. Dream Buddies are a catchy, lo-fi, vaguely surfy four piece fronted by Jay Prevo with a backing trio formerly known as Drug Wars: drummer Cory Stier and guitarists Farmer and Tommy Garcia. Garcia and Stier …

Legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny returned to Anthology last night, debuting his brand new group Unity Band with saxophonist/bass clarinetist Chris Potter, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer Antonio Sanchez in an exhilarating set that connected past, present and future into …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/26/32319/ You might be a little perplexed when you hear Tristan Shone - a machine fabricator who uses his inventions to compose devastating industrial doom-drone metal as one-man band Author & Punisher - say that his music “comes from a …

Concert promoter Bonnie Wright continues her forward-leaning Fresh Sound concert series on Oct. 2, with the West Coast debut of the NYC duet of double bassist Ken Filiano and electric guitarist Anders Nilsson. Filiano is a virtuoso of the highest …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/25/32248/ Building upon their previous incarnations with the addition of members from Mexicali noisewave/hardcore bands Lipstick Terror, Chrome Eye, and El Centro's thrashnasty SnailS!, Batwings released their long-awaited La Maldición EP today via Bandcamp. La Maldición is a 5-song snapshot …

Producer Room E recently posted a single from his upcoming collaboration with local MCs Parker & the Numberman, SM57. The pending album will see more straight-forward hip hop production from Dan 'Room E' Harumi, who specializes in nostalgic, multi-instrumental beat …

If von Karajan was Muhammad Ali then Georg Solti was Joe Frazier. The comparison holds water. Von Karajan had his flamboyant hair and his baton floated like a butterfly. Solti had no hair, to speak of, and his baton was …

Tastemaking über-blog Pitchfork reviewed two former San Diego bands today in an unprecedented (though certainly unintentional) nod towards America’s Finest City. The dark garage-y Dum Dum Girls scored a smart 8.3 and a “Best New Music” tag for their End …

The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) local 325 has released a statement regarding their negotiations with Orchestra Nova (formerly San Diego Chamber Orchestra). The statement iterates that after nine hours of meetings today, no agreement has been reached and no …

One of the greatest things about jazz as an art-form is that you can never tell where, or when something truly magical might happen. I've developed an intense appreciation for the work of guitarist Mundell Lowe over the last few …

Amanda Palmer's business model causes quite a "kerfuffle"

In the current Reader, William Crain penned an excellent Of Note which detailed the 1.2 million dollar Kickstarter campaign ex-Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer utilized in order to fund her new album, Theatre of Evil. On the Reader website, Crain adds …

If Furtwängler and Toscanini had conspired to have a love child, the result would have been Herbert von Karajan. We've covered all the Third Reich stuff with Herbert but what about his conducting style and approach? Von Karajan was inspired …

Lorraine Castellanos brought a stellar band, (including husband Gilbert), into 98 Bottles last night, where a standing-room-only crowd cheered on her Billie Holliday tribute--and in spite of a nasty cold--she pretty much nailed it. The trumpeting Castellanos led pianist Ed …

Johnny Vernazza's upcoming full-length, Lions and Thieves, slated for release on local Blindspot Records, will feature an all-star lineup of contributors and players, including Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Charlie Daniels, Albert Lee, and famed L.A. Wrecking Crew producer Don Peake. …

Third Story, the creative, collaborative quartet helmed by bassist Danny Weller, returned to 98 Bottles last night, in full-force, their powers sharpened by a series of gigs in the area. Third Story has the feel of a real band, and …

U.K. psychedelic tech-funk producer and quantum physicist Steve Young aka Hedflux will be hosting a two-hour workshop at the Kava Lounge tomorrow (Friday) night demonstrating how to build a track from the ground up using techniques that can be applied …

Check out the new video from SD/TJ minimalist rockers The Electric Healing Sound and keep an eye out for an upcoming profile on director Aaron Soto in the Big Screen blog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvcZ1xkbBKU

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/18/31819/ Photo: Third Story with Gilbert Castellanos by Michael Klayman Young double bass master Danny Weller has returned from NYC, bringing his band-mate guitarist Jeff Miles back to town as well, where they will be hooking up with LA drummer …

AMF MUSIC FESTIVAL 2012 (CARTEL TEASER) from ALL MY FRIENDS on Vimeo. Hailed by Spanish magazine Plástica as “one of the most important happenings in Latin American music [and] in general for Mexican music,” the third annual All My Friends …

From the Stage Can Be Strange files: Roni Lee (Venus & the Razorblades): “In November 2011 I opened for Missing Persons. Dale Bozzio got very ill after their third song. Her back-up band jammed on a blues tune for a …

The 2012 Carlsbad Music Festival will include several locals performing, including Carlsbad natives/residents Calder Quartet, Wu Man, Sara Watkins with Sean Watkins (of local bluegrass/Americana family band Nickel Creek) with MandoBasso, Sacra/Profana, the Mattson 2, and Matt McBane. Other highlights …

I stumbled upon Conga del Fuego by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez. I love the energy in this type of music. Is it a cream puff? Of course it is but no more than something like Copland’s El Salon Mexico. Marquez’s …

As Bugs Bunny enters the pit of the Hollywood Bowl, the orchestra members whisper to each other in awe, "Leopold, Leopold! " Bugs walks up to the conductor, takes the baton, and and snaps it. Why? Because Leopold Stokowski eschewed …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/17/31688/ Last night, San Diego drum master Duncan Moore brought five of the area's most accomplished and diverse percussionists together for his third annual Drum Summit at Tango Del Rey in Pacific Beach. First Set: Russell Bizzett ; Monette Marino …

Back 2 Black AC/DC tribute During a grand entrance Paul Howie, in the role of Angus Young, does a stage leap that accidentally cracks the head stock of his only guitar. Tuning pegs are broken, rendering the instrument out to …

Even though Aida is months and months away, I’m starting to get into the mood for some sword consecrating and triumphal marching. There are two scenes in Aida that are among my favorites of all time to sing as a …

Composer and woodwind virtuoso Vinny Golia brought 2 groups into the Museum Of Making Music last night for an inspiring demonstration of the infinite possibilities of saxophone music. Golia played soprano, soprillo, baritone, bass and contrabass saxophones with startling facility--and …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/16/31544/ Every year, when Cover Me Badd frontman Adam Gimbel celebrates his birthday, his pop-tastic parody band introduces a new mock-filled mashup. Two years ago, it was Geezer from the Crypt (old men Weezer trib crossed with Rocket from the …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/14/31514/ San Diego music titan Daniel Jackson made an all too rare appearance last night, assembling a killer quartet that included pianist Joshua White, LA bassist Henry Franklin and drummer Myron Cohen in concert at 98 Bottles. Even as the …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/14/31512/ Govinda Heavy-hitting electronic dance night Ocean Beats will be shaking up North County tonight with an all-star lineup featuring the first San Diego performance of Michal Menert, the co-producer of Pretty Lights' debut 2006 album, Taking Up Your Precious …

Anthology presented one of the year's best concerts last night--despite a less-than-capacity crowd--when trumpet virtuoso Christian Scott's Quintet hit the stage. The Scott group has been together, and working steadily, for the past several years, and on tour in support …

A couple of weeks ago while at the grand opening of Rock and Roll San Diego, I heard a sound coming from one of the practice rooms that grabbed both ears. "Pretty good," said my companion for the evening, "if …

Jack FM, the radio home of the top-rated Dave, Shelly & Chainsaw morning show, was heavily promoting its only big concert event of the year. The largest concert facility in town, the 20,000-capacity Cricket Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, was to …

"I'm so excited about this!" It's Lynn Willard on the phone, talking about his latest band. He calls it the Storey/Willard Project. "When people hear this music, man, they're gonna (expletive deleted.)" "Jim Storey's song writing is like an undiscovered …

San Diego jazz drum master Duncan Moore will present Drum Summit 2012 this Sunday, Sept. 16, 7:00 pm at Tango Del Rey in Pacific Beach in a Chuck Perrin/dizzy's production. Moore has done several of these presentations before--this one will …

Anthology is featuring the Christian Scott Quintet tomorrow night in a concert that begins at 7:30. This is the kind of performance that makes this venue indispensable. I saw Scott and his band at City College two years ago--and it …

Is there anything lamer than bands playing DJ sets? You know the scenario: The line up to HighDaisyYeahChellaInABottleDance finally comes out and your favorite band is at the top of the poster in big, bold letters. You rush to buy …

Whitney Shay's album release party for Soul Tonic happens Monday, September 24, in the Celestial Ballroom at the U.S. Grant Hotel. "It is a CD AND digital release," Shay says of the album, which is available on CD Baby, iTunes, …

I decided to see which other companies have apps up for San Diego. No La Jolla Playhouse or Olde Globe. No Orchestra Nova or La Jolla Symphony. How about San Diego Opera? Yes, we have a winner. I wasn't as …

I was trying to get to the San Diego Symphony website on my Android device when I was asked if I'd like to download the San Diego Symphony app. Uh, hells yes I would! I have always found the symphony …

San Diego/Tijuana minimal garage rockers The Electric Healing Sound’s debut record, Tangled Up, draws instant and undeniable comparisons to The Velvet Underground, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Modern Lovers, in that order, with a hint of Wharton Tiers’ …

"The conductor has one arch enemy to fight. Routine. There's no denying that in daily life it has its advantages but it plays the most deadly role in music"-Wilhelm Furtwängler. Toscanini referred to Furtwängler as an amateur of genius. I'm …

L.A. pianist Mike Garson was last in San Diego supporting vocalist Nnenna Freelon a few years back, in one of the better concerts of that year. Garson has an impressive résumé as a musician--including many years as the musical director …

LA vocalist Melissa Morgan returned to 98 Bottles last night in a Chuck Perrin/dizzy's performance that featured wunderkind bassist Mike Gurrola, drummer Charles Ruggiero and our own piano master Joshua White. The concert began with the trio of White, Gurrola …

Applebrown Ensemble by Michael Klayman Bar Pink is right in my neighborhood, but until baritone saxophonist Gabriel Sundy invited me to check out his horn-centric group the Applebrown Jazz Ensemble I didn't have much reason to visit. I arrived about …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/07/31116/ I'm Sure, the newest effort from La Jolla via Mexico City bedroom dreamer Twin Cabins (Nacho Cano), is the definitive soundtrack to star-crossed late adolescence. While Cano’s earlier releases explored more introspective, ambient textures, I’m Sure finds footing with …

Much has been made of Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan's fitness. He is reputed to be into P90X. P90X is a popular fitness program. It claims to transform your body in 90 days. I've tried a few of the workouts …

Forty years ago today -- September 7, 1972 -- the Jefferson Airplane played the San Diego Sports Arena. This was one of the Airplane's final concerts with their "classic" lineup, which split up two weeks later following a San Francisco …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/31036/ In celebration of the 100th birthday of iconic 20th Century composer John Cage, Bonnie Wright curated an electronic music extravaganza last night in a well-attended concert held outdoors at Space4Art in the East Village. Cage was a brilliant, renegade …

Like a modern day inverse Ron Burgundy, promoter and noise musician Sam Lopez (otherwise known as the skull-wielding guitar innovator Zsa Zsa Gabor) encourages San Diego to “stay strange” with an all ages, monthly showcase at the Kava Gallery featuring …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/05/30936/ Following last month's comprehensive new local band compilation from Ship Records, Against the Current (see this week's Blurt column) is the tenth volume of the long running Staring at the Sun series, with two local release parties, preceded by …

John Cage, who would have turned 100 on September 5, wrote the first serious composition for toy piano, as odd as it to say those words together in a sentence. First performed in 1948 and called Suite for Toy Piano, …

Reader blogger Robin Tung already mentioned the Kava Lounge fundraiser for the Balboa Park lily pond, which was damaged in a late night water gun fight last month when a few dozen of the several hundreds participants hopped in the …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/04/30804/ “I’m a singer-songwriter with alt-country leanings, but a punk rock spirit,” says acoustic troubadour Grampadrew, aka Drew Douglas. “Think John Prine and Neil Young, jamming on a sawdust-floor hoedown with Wilco.” Grampadrew was nominated Best Alt Country and Best …

In a rare fit of pastoral sentiment, I gave George Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow a listening to. The piece was written in 1913 and was based on folk tunes that Butterworth had collected in Sussex in 1907 and …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/03/30803/ There is no person in San Diego that does more to bring cutting-edge, experimental music onto the stage than concert promoter/record label operator Bonnie Wright. Over the years she has worked tirelessly to bring a stunning array of the …

Concerning orchestral transparency, it is difficult to surpass George Szell and his Cleveland Orchestra. Yes, it was his orchestra. Almost 20 years after he died, his name was still lauded in reviews of the Cleveland players. I will never forget …

A short reprieve: today does not actually mark the end of summer. Actually, summer concludes on September 22, according to Will Faeber. That's the day he and his band Cathouse Thursday host what he calls the official End of Summer …

If there was a conductor who welded the 19th and 20th Centuries together, it was Arturo Toscanini. Born in 1867, Toscanini lived until 1957. He died shortly before his 90th birthday. At 19-years-old, Toscanini was the principal cellist in an …

Last night's Robin Adler & Mutts of the Planet concert celebrating the music of Joni Mitchell was huge success on every conceivable level--and like a classical music performance--much of the credit is due both to the performers and the composer. …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/01/30692/ Astra Kelly will debut songs from her new torch-singer concept album Parlour Songs: Love and Heartbreak at House of Blues on September 7. The full-length finds her pursuing a new less-rock and roll sound, with songs written around universal …

Guitarist Jaime Valle is one of the San Diego jazz scene's most valuable players and distinctive musicians. Last night, he assembled an incredible group of veteran performers to pay tribute to the music, and spirit of jazz icon Wes Montgomery …

It’s no coincidence that the debut ANA/ album, Caverns, shares a kindred mood with the works of epic orchestral 9-piece KATA. Caverns by ANA A side-project of KATA guitarist Demetrius Antuna, ANA/’s future albums will actually be designed to play …

"We've been around for quite a while." Mark Calabio checks in by phone from L.A. His band, Platypus Egg, is readying for their CD release party in San Diego in September. "Most of our shows have been in the East …

The Reader's Overheard In San Diego comic strip made its debut in the Blurt column almost 17 years ago. Here's the tryout strip I submitted with my original sales pitch: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/01/30651/ As you can see, little about the format has …